The Climate Question

Latest Episodes:

News update: The Earth breaches its temperature target Jan 10, 2025

Show notes

In 2024, the global temperature was more than 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. Graihagh Jackson and BBC Climate Report Esme Stallard consider the significance of this key climate target being breached. Plus, why farmers in Malawi are switching to banana wine and how global warming might be forcing humpback whales to migrate even further.

With Zeke Hausfather, Climate Scientist at the University of California, Berkeley; and BBC Africa reporter Ashley Lime.

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Production Team: Anne Okumu in Malawi; Diane Richardson, Ellie House and Sophie Eastaugh in London Sound Mix: James Beard and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

How is climate change affecting animal migration? Jan 06, 2025

Show notes

Every year, the great migration sees hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, gazelles, zebras and antelopes migrate from the Serengeti plains in Tanzania to the Maasai Mara in Kenya, in search of water and juicy grass. But rising temperatures and unpredictable weather are changing this epic animal journey dramatically. It’s the same for great white sharks, which are being spotted in areas where they’d never normally live.

Tanzanian safari guide Neema Amos takes us into the Serengeti to explain why the wildebeest migration is so important. And shark expert Trisha Atwood reveals how these changes affect not just the animals, but our fight against climate change itself.

Presenter Sophie Eastaugh is joined by: Neema Amos, Safari Guide in Tanzania Trisha Atwood, Associate Professor of Watershed Sciences at Utah State University Joseph Ogutu, Senior Statistician at University of Hohenheim

Email us at theclimatequestion@bbc.com

Producers: Sophie Eastaugh and Octavia Woodward Editors: Graihagh Jackson and Tom Bigwood Series Producer: Simon Watts Sound design and mixing: Tom Brignell Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown

Archive from the Sir David Attenborough programme, ‘Wildebeest: The Super Herd’, BBC Two, 2008

This programme was first broadcast in March 2024

Review of the year 2024 Dec 30, 2024

Show notes

From elections around the world to records in both temperatures and renewable energy, 2024 has been jam-packed with extreme weather and climate news. Graihagh Jackson, Jordan Dunbar and an expert panel reflect on the key climate stories of the year.

Dr Rose Mutiso from the Energy for Growth Hub reveals a ‘silent solar revolution’ that has surged across rooftops in South Africa and beyond, helping the grid finally meet people’s electricity needs. We discuss the rise of electric vehicles – but also, deforestation. And the BBC’s Climate Reporter Esme Stallard explains why rising ocean temperatures are the red flag to which we should all be paying more attention.

So, has 2024 been a good or bad year for the climate?

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Reporter: Jordan Dunbar Guests: Dr Rose Mutiso, Research Director at the Energy for Growth Hub Esme Stallard, BBC Climate Reporter

Producer: Sophie Eastaugh Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison Sound Mix: Tom Brignell and James Beard Editor: Simon Watts

Quiz of the Year 2024 Dec 23, 2024

Show notes

As 2024 draws to a close, join Graihagh Jackson as she hosts The Climate Question’s inaugural Quiz of the Year. Two teams battle it out – with questions, games, and challenges looking back at the past year in climate change. Can you beat them?

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Competitors: Jordan Dunbar, Dr Rose Mutiso, Jacqui Wakefield, and Dr Akshat Rathi Producer: Ellie House Sound Mix: James Beard Editor: Simon Watts

Climate change and plastic - what's the connection? Dec 16, 2024

Show notes

Plastics are everywhere – for good reason – they're cheap, abundant and can go into a myriad of different products from food packaging to vital medical equipment. But plastic waste has a devastating effect on the environment and the manufacturing process is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The world is trying to agree on a treaty to reduce plastics pollution but a recent meeting in South Korea ended in failure. Graihagh Jackson talks to experts on the past and future of plastics, and she hears a report from Malaysia, where plastic waste dumps can be up to 15 metres high.

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Reporter in Malaysia: Leana Hosea Guests: Susan Frankel, author of "Plastic: A Toxic Love Story", and Dr Cressida Bowyer, Associate Professor in Arts and Sustainability at the University of Portsmouth. Producer: Octavia Woodward Production Support: Ellie House Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison Sound Mix: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

What do melting glaciers mean for the Himalayas? Dec 09, 2024

Show notes

Climate change is melting thousands of glaciers in the Himalayas and having a devastating impact on the people who live there. The BBC's Caroline Davies has just been to the Pakistani side of the world's highest mountain range: she tells Graihagh Jackson how villagers are coping, and how they are determined to stay put despite the risks of floods and the disruption to their traditional way of life.

You can watch Caroline's reporting from Pakistan here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m00246nx/from-above-melting-glaciers

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter: Graihagh Jackson Reporter in Pakistan: Caroline Davies Producers in Pakistan: Fakhir Munir, Usman Zahid, Kamil Dayan Khan Producers in London: Ellie House and Osman Iqbal Sound Mix: Rod Farquhar and Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

Was the COP climate summit a success? Nov 25, 2024

Show notes

For two weeks, nearly 200 countries have been in Azerbaijan trying to come to an agreement on climate change and how to finance the transition to clean and green economies in developing nations. At COP 29, there were walk-outs, there was drama, and then there was a deal - of sorts. Graihagh Jackson is joined by an all-star panel to re-cap what happened and ask what all of this means for our planet.

Guests: Justin Rowlatt, BBC Climate Editor Adil Najam, Professor of International Relations and Environment at the Pardee School and President of WWF David Victor, Professor of Innovation and Public Policy at the University of California, San Diego Dr Musonda Mumba, Secretary General of the UN Convention on Wetlands

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenters: Graihagh Jackson with Jordan Dunbar Producer: Octavia Woodward Production Co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison Editor: Simon Watts Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell and Giles Aspen

How does climate change affect me? Nov 22, 2024

Show notes

In his latest climate change 101, Jordan Dunbar looks at how climate change affects our everyday lives. He discusses the impact on our weather with BBC forecaster Louise Lear; while BBC Africa business journalist Clare Muthinji looks at what a warmer world means for the economy - from prices at the supermarket to where we go on holiday!

CORRECTION: In this episode we quote an London School of Economics report that found food prices are 37% higher due to climate change. This is incorrect. While the LSE report found food prices rising globally in part due to climate change, the 37% figure comes from a different piece of research.

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721

Presenter and Producer: Jordan Dunbar Researchers: Octavia Woodward, Osman Iqbal and Tsogzolmaa Shofyor Sound Design: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

What do developing nations want from the big climate summit? Nov 18, 2024

Show notes

When Cyclone Freddy swept through Malawi, it left 100s of thousands of people destitute. Now, survivors are among the first in the world to receive a new kind of climate compensation to relocate and rebuild their lives. This "loss and damage" funding is one of the key issues at the COP meeting in Baku. This year, the focus of the global climate summit is the help which more developed nations should give to countries in the Global South.

Graihagh Jackson hears directly from Malawians who've received international climate aid, in their case from Scotland. And she asks Scottish First Minister, John Swinney: Is the money enough?

Got a climate question you’d like answered? Email: TheClimateQuestion@BBC.com or WhatsApp: +44 8000 321 721 Presenter: Graihagh Jackson BBC Africa Reporter in Malawi: Ashley Lime Producers: Octavia Woodward and Anne Okumu Production co-ordinators: Sophie Hill and Katie Morrison Sound Engineer: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

What progress have we made on fighting climate change? Nov 15, 2024

Show notes

In his latest climate change 101, Jordan Dunbar looks at the world's success stories. These include the rise of renewable energy, greener urban planning and deep - if insufficient - cuts in carbon emissions. His guest is Dr Caterina Brandmayr, Director of Policy and Translation, Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment, Imperial College London.

Presenter and Producer: Jordan Dunbar Researchers: Octavia Woodward and Tsogzolmaa Shofyor Sound Design: Tom Brignell Editor: Simon Watts

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